Double piano-stool



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. HERING,1OF SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,405, dated November 15, 1892. Application filed April 22,1892. Serial it/430,204. (lloinodeL) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN J. HERING, of Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented a new and Improved Double Piano-Stool, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in piano-stools; and the object of my invention is to produce a stool of this class which may be used like an ordinary single stool; which may, when necessary, be quickly adjusted so as to form two seats, thus adapting it for the use of two persons for playing a duet; which is also constructed so that the seats may be adj Listed vertically in relation to each other, so as to suit people of different heights, and which may be used as a convenient double seat for any purpose whatever.

To this end my invention consists in a stool, the construction of which will be hereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a vertical cross-section of the stool when adapted for use as an ordinary single stool. Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line 2 2 in Fig. 3, showing the stool arranged as a double seat. Fig. 3 is an inverted sectional plan on the line 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. at is a detail sectional View of one of the seats, showing more particularly the fastening apparatus by which the seat is secured to an adjacent seat. Fig. 5 is a detail end view of the base-plate and one of the slides therein, and Fig. 6 is a detail sectional View of the fastening-latch and its releasing-lever.

The stool is provided with a substantial base-plate 10, which is thickened in the middle, as shown at 11, and which has depending from its thickened portion a screw 12, which turns in a fixed nut 13, which nut is provided with outwardly-branching legs 14, these legs being preferably arranged soas to have the greatest spread in the direction of the greatest length of the seats when adjusted for two persons, thus giving the stool the necessary strength.- The base-plate 10 is slotted longitudinally on the upper side, as shown at 15, and the central portion of the slot or groove is covered by a plate which prevents the clothing of people on the stool from getting.

in the slot or groove. The slot or groove 15 is dovetailed so as to hold in place a slideblock 16, and there is a slide-block on each end of the base-plate, each slide-block having a stud 17 on the under side, which is held to move in a longitudinal channel 18 in the baseplate, and the slides 16 are normally pressed to the outer ends of the base-plate by springs 19, which lie in the channels 18, between the studs and the middle piece 11' of the baseplate. The studs 17 on the slides also serve to limit the outward movement of the slides as they strike against the solid ends of the base-plate, as shown in Fig. 2.

On each slide 16 is an upwardly-extending screw 20, which enters a fixed nut 21, held by arms 22 to theunder side of a seat 23, the seat being upholstered, as shown at 24, in the usual way and having depending sides 25, which thus form a recess on the under side of the seat, and the recess provides room for the movement of the stool-scat upon the screw 20. It will be seen, then, that as each seat 23 is independently adjustable upon the screw 20, the seats may be placed at different heights, so as to suit people of differentheights.

On the under side and at one edge of one seat 23is a laterally-extendinglatch 26, which is fulcrumed near the center, as shown at 27, and which has a catch 28 at its outer end, this being adapted to engage a plate 26 on one side of the adjacent seat. The catch 28 is normally pressed upward so as to engage the plate 26 by a spring 29, one end of which presses downward on the inner end of the latch and the other end of which is fixed to an adjacent portion of the seat. A lever 30 is fulcrumed on the inner side of the seat and this lever has one free end 31, which is held upon the outer portion of the latch 26, as best shown in Fig. 6, and the opposite end of the lever terminates in a finger-piece 32, held adjacent to one end of the seat 23. It will. be seen, then, that to release the latch, it is only necessary to press upward on the finger-piece 32, as this will depress the opposite end of the lever and tip down the latch 26.

When the stool is used as a single seat, the seats 23 are placed side by side and pushed together against the resistance of the springs 19, and the catch 28 automatically engages the plate 26, as shown in Fig. 1. When the stool is to be used by two people, the seats 23 are placed end to end, as shown in Fig. 2,and adjusted so as to suit the height of the players.

I have shown a particular kind of fastening device for securing the two seats together; but it will be understood that any equivalent fastening may be substituted without departing from the principle of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. Apiano-stool comprisingasupport, avertically-adjustable base mounted on said sup- 

